Opposing Scouting Report: Tina Charles

By Brian Stanchak, Special to WNBA.com

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Tina Charles gave opposing teams trouble with her dominating presence.

UConn Athletic Communications

Brian Stanchak spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at Seton Hall University in the Big East Conference. During his time there, he helped the Pirates sign two top 55 recruits. Prior, he served two years as the Top Assistant Women's Basketball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Fairleigh Dickinson University, one year as the Coordinator of Mens and Women's Basketball Operations at the University of Pennsylvania and four years as a Men's Basketball Student-Assistant/Video Coordinator at Seton Hall. He has helped programs to two NCAA tournaments and 2 NITs during his career.

Scouting reports should be straight to the point, consisting of only the most important information. Tina Charles’, however, was a defender’s nightmare.

“Work to keep her off the block - posts hard, will back you down with dribble and can finish going over either shoulder (meaning she can finish with right or left hand). Must box out - extremely active on the boards and works to get second-chance points. Very good passer. Will look to block your shot.”

This is just a sampling of many notes from our detailed scouting report explaining how dominating Tina Charles was this season.

Charles was the type of post player that college coaches drool over during the recruiting process. The scary thing is, she got even better when she arrived at the University of Connecticut. During my three years coaching in the Big East at Seton Hall University, I could see her ability to control the game improve from year to year. This season, however, she was at her best. Charles established herself as one of the greats in the game by finishing off her college career winning the Naismith Trophy, awarded to the nations top women’s college basketball player, and a second straight NCAA Championship. Despite the magnificent talent that Maya Moore is, UConn would not have been as incredible without Tina Charles in the post.

When we played Charles’ UConn squad this season, she scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in only 23 minutes. That’s something that a lot of people don’t realize – Tina Charles finished third in the Big East in scoring (18.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (9.5 rpg) while only playing 27 minutes per game. Over a 40-minute period, that would average out to nearly 27 points and 14 rebounds.

On the defensive end, Charles’ presence was felt tremendously, too. As a result, she finished first in the Big East with 2.4 blocks a night. It didn’t matter where she was on the floor, whether it be defending someone in the post or intimidating any player who dared to penetrate into the paint, Charles made an impact.

When establishing a strong offensive post game, you want a player who will finish around the rim and rebound. At a high level, you would expect all of your post players to finish around the basket, but few did it as constantly as Charles. Her field-goal percentage was an incredible 62 percent during the 2009-10 season, best in the Big East.

UCONN head coach Geno Auriemma has pushed Tina Charles to become the best player she can be. After seeing her improvements year after year, I am convinced that she will continue to expand on her game and make someone’s WNBA team a force in the post for years to come.